On 3 December 2017, A. R. Levett was awarded first prize in the KSP Memoir Awards 2017 for his memoir, The Visit. The memoir is a powerful piece that deals with confronting mental illness in the family and oneself. It also offers insight into the state of mental health treatment in W.A. You can read a copy of it here.

Competition judge, Dr Rachel Robertson, had this to say about 'The Visit':"The Visit by Andrew Levett, WA is the Winner! As it happens, The Visit also explores a father-child relationshipwithin a residential care setting, though in a different context. The narrator here visits his father in a mental health facility, confronted both by the environment and by seeing his dad so unwell. This is an excellent piece of memoir, establishing setting and character very effectively and giving us access to the narrator’s feelings in highly economical ways. The dialogue is particularly well written. This work challenges us to think about things we may not want to consider. It addresses an important and very topical issue for our time in a powerful way." You can read Dr Robertson's full judge's report here.

A. R. Levett would like to thank Barbara Turner-Vesselago for prompting him to write the memoir, as well as Mardi May and the KSP Past Tense Group for helping him edit it down from over 1,500 words. He would also like to thank Tabetha Rogers Beggs, Lisa A. Wolstenholme, and Helen Doran-Wu for helping him rework a very purple version of 'The Visit'.

The KSP Memoir Awards 2017 featured a bevy of great memoirs. A. R. Levett would like to congratulate fellow winners K. W. George, Ashleigh Hardcastle, Rachelle Rechichi, and Catherine Johnstone. For more information about the KSP Memoir Awards 2017 or competition winners, please visit the KSP website. A. R. Levett recommends reading the memoir of the other winners.